Location: EMOTIONAL WORK OF CINEMA

Discussion: Cinema as a public as opposed to private eventReported This is a featured thread

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geofffascia
geofffascia
Cinema as a public as opposed to private event
Mar 28 2009, 6:31 AM EDT | Post edited: Mar 28 2009, 6:31 AM EDT
Two unlikely moments in my cinema-going years have stuck with me, which affirmed more than anything the power of the collective cinema-going experience. Both concerned going to see re-releases on the big screen in sold-out cinemas. I had the pleasure of seeing The Exorcist for the first time during its cinema re-release in 2000 - there was one moment in particular when a very large amount of tension was released at the end of a scene, causing the entire crowd to visibly jump in their seats, then audibly breathe a sigh of relief. The whole audience's emotions were in sync and felt to be magnified by our collective experiencing of them. Similarly, three years previously I saw Star Wars (not for the first time) on the opening night of its 20th anniversary re-release. As the end credits rolled, spontaneous applause began rippling through the crowd. Despite the film-makers not being present at that particular small-town Odeon, it became clear that the film had a powerful effect and brought back memories for many of us ... and the heightened experience sharing it together was confirmed to all. Do you find this valuable?    
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PaulSutton
PaulSutton
1. RE: Cinema as a public as opposed to private event
Apr 5 2009, 3:25 AM EDT | Post edited: Apr 5 2009, 3:25 AM EDT
Yes, I first saw The Exorcist at a midnight screening in central London. The audience consisted of hardcore fans who were able to cite the dialogue in the film word for word and those who had simply turned up after the pubs had closed… What was interesting was that a kind of carnivalesque atmosphere prevailed, with the audience’s performance of the film undercutting any of its tension and horror. For me, a viewer who had avoided seeing it precisely because of its reputation as a truly frightening film, this turned out to be a wonderfully liberating encounter precisely because it demonstrated that the horror film and pleasure were not mutually exclusive. That said, my first encounter with The Exorcist is pertinent here, I suspect. It was non-cinematic and consisted of peers at my boarding school recounting scenes from the film at night in our dormitory after lights out – a collective experience that left far too much to my imagination… Do you find this valuable?